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Re: Duds so far
Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2022 6:36 am
by slugworth
Valencia got diseased and died.
Genuwine plants are dead.
German Johnson cashed in it's chips.
That is usually a good one for heat/drought.
A neighbors heirloom that he passed around;growing it for years here.
Nobody had luck with that one,even him.
Re: Duds so far
Posted: Fri Aug 05, 2022 5:38 pm
by rossomendblot
Rebel Yell - only got 4 fruit from it, hasn't set a single fruit on the rest of the plant
Heshpole - not quite as bad fruit set as Rebel Yell but still pretty bad
I only have room for 8 plants in the greenhouse, so no slackers allowed!
Re: Duds so far
Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2022 3:12 pm
by strawbaleking
Tried a bunch of hybrids in addition to the OP ones, all mealy, thick skinned, and bland like always with the exception of Damsel.
All were much later than most of the heirlooms.
Jetsetter, Medusa, Momotaro, Moreton, Better Boy, Darkstar. Carmello (ok but thick skin).
No more hybrids I want to try here except Brandy Boy.
Prudens Purple was early but too bland and too meaty
Liz Birt same but very healthy and very productive perfect shapes
Cherokee Green same
Margaret Curtain 2 years ago the best before early death in California (I am now in PNW) this year huge cores.
Sungold tasted fine but very thick skins
Amazon Chocolate - very very deformed fruits but early
Spudatula - very dry
Black Prince - didn't care for taste but was a huge healthy productive plant
County Agent - loaded up, then stopped growing a main tip, fruit bland
Carmello - ok but thick skin
All above pretty productive just basically tasteless and texture problems.
So this is my second year in the PNW and while I am using large containers with Roots Organic potting soil and under plastic topped grow tunnel and tried to be careful with watering...
Only thing I liked was Spudakee, Terhune (these did have flavor and great texture), and sometimes Vorlon. Damsel hybrid good but very late.
The cold dark extended length spring is partly to blame and maybe I need to supplement more with potassium?
All plants were very healthy. I used Tomato Tone, and azomite, epsom, and 90 day granules with sporadic liquid fish/kelp or tomato feed.
Re: Duds so far
Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2022 3:42 pm
by Tormahto
strawbaleking wrote: ↑Tue Oct 04, 2022 3:12 pm
Tried a bunch of hybrids in addition to the OP ones, all mealy, thick skinned, and bland like always with the exception of Damsel.
All were much later than most of the heirlooms.
Jetsetter, Medusa, Momotaro, Moreton, Better Boy, Darkstar. Carmello (ok but thick skin).
No more hybrids I want to try here except Brandy Boy.
Prudens Purple was early but too bland and too meaty
Liz Birt same but very healthy and very productive perfect shapes
Cherokee Green same
Margaret Curtain 2 years ago the best before early death in California (I am now in PNW) this year huge cores.
Sungold tasted fine but very thick skins
Amazon Chocolate - very very deformed fruits but early
Spudatula - very dry
Black Prince - didn't care for taste but was a huge healthy productive plant
County Agent - loaded up, then stopped growing a main tip, fruit bland
Carmello - ok but thick skin
All above pretty productive just basically tasteless and texture problems.
So this is my second year in the PNW and while I am using large containers with Roots Organic potting soil and under plastic topped grow tunnel and tried to be careful with watering...
Only thing I liked was Spudakee, Terhune (these did have flavor and great texture), and sometimes Vorlon. Damsel hybrid good but very late.
The cold dark extended length spring is partly to blame and maybe I need to supplement more with potassium?
All plants were very healthy. I used Tomato Tone, and azomite, epsom, and 90 day granules with sporadic liquid fish/kelp or tomato feed.
Here, 3 thousand miles to the east, bland and mealy means only one thing, too much rain.
Even with careful watering, did you lightly water often, or did you moderately water with many days between each watering?
Re: Duds so far
Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2022 4:14 pm
by strawbaleking
Hey, Tormato.
We had some stretches of pretty good heat, so if they started to look wilty they would get some, just some water, sometimes daily sometimes a few days. No cracking problems. They are in 15 gal pots and are covered in the hoophouse all the time so rain or not water all on me. I might put in a drip system next year and hope I can get it just right. It was cold and cloudy right up to July 5th.... gets nice and warm in hoophouse if sunny. I have a vent fan.
The pots do not have saucers either but I am probably going to buy stock tanks to plant in to get much larger soil coverage to help maintain moisture better and add worm castings to help as well. The water just drains right out right now in the Roots Organic potting mix of coco and peat base. I also figure due to the heat plus pots plus watering to fix I am washing away some nutrients maybe.
Re: Duds so far
Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2022 12:53 pm
by Tormahto
strawbaleking wrote: ↑Tue Oct 04, 2022 4:14 pm
Hey, Tormato.
We had some stretches of pretty good heat, so if they started to look wilty they would get some, just some water, sometimes daily sometimes a few days. No cracking problems. They are in 15 gal pots and are covered in the hoophouse all the time so rain or not water all on me. I might put in a drip system next year and hope I can get it just right. It was cold and cloudy right up to July 5th.... gets nice and warm in hoophouse if sunny. I have a vent fan.
The pots do not have saucers either but I am probably going to buy stock tanks to plant in to get much larger soil coverage to help maintain moisture better and add worm castings to help as well. The water just drains right out right now in the Roots Organic potting mix of coco and peat base. I also figure due to the heat plus pots plus watering to fix I am washing away some nutrients maybe.
My plants are in-ground, well amended loam with about 50% compost by volume. The soil drains extremely well (with about 100 feet of sand below the soil). It also holds moisture fairly well. If there is no rain, I try to go 4 to 5 days between watering, to achieve the best flavor and texture.
The one thing I know about peat, is that none of it should be at the surface/soil line. That's where it dries out too quickly.
Re: Duds so far
Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2022 10:17 pm
by lindalana
Summer was hot and dry here then rains started when tomatoes were getting ripe.
I started adding potassium nitrate every few days, taste was not marvelous but decent across entire group. No BER entire summer. Nice to have own well.
My main goal was to renew my seed supply which we achieved.